


Of Two Minds

by Ottra



Category: Jack Blank Adventures - Matt Myklusch
Genre: Gen, Reformed Khalix
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5457752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ottra/pseuds/Ottra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you don't realize how much you need someone until they're gone...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

"We're trying to do you a favor."  
  
"I won't let you take him." Jack told them resolutely, backing up against the metal wall of the spaceship's cell.   
  
_'Jack, just let me go.'_  
  
The scientist looked cross. "Fine. Then we'll take him ourselves. Ready the machines." The last sentence was directed towards the lackey standing by.   
  
_'Don't be stupid.'_  
  
"No." Jack said, still staring down his captors.   
  
_'Jack, they'll hurt you otherwise.'_  
  
"I don't-"  
  
"Extractor ready. Stand clear."  
  
The world was bathed in white light, and Jack and Khalix's voices cried out in twin screams.


	2. Chapter 2

**\-- Eight Months Ago  
  
** They were losing.   
  
Allegra was on the ground, and was could barely reform. Skerren was still fighting, but had a wound down his leg that was rapidly spilling blood. Jack's machines had been cut to bits.   
  
That was before one of the villains stabbed Jack in the chest.   
  
Skerren turned around in looked on with horror stricken eyes. Allegra cried out "Jack!"  
  
Jack coughed, falling to the ground, blood staining his shirt. "Kind of wish I had that core right now." He choked out, his eyes closing. "I..." He trailed off, and then something changed. The blood dripping out of his chest became oil and then stopped as metal covered the wound. He looked up, his eyes dark and angry.   
  
"You really shouldn't have stabbed him," said Khalix, his Rüstov accent making the words sound harsh and metallic. He stood, closing his hands into nanite hardened fists.   
  
The villain took a step back, but Khalix wouldn't let them get away. He swung a fist into their jaw, and watched as they collapsed.   
  
Before he could deal any more damage, Skerren had a sword at his throat. "Let Jack go."  
  
"I'm not finished-"  
  
"I will use this."  
  
Khalix sighed, his eyes flicking towards Skerren before looking away. "Make sure you get Jack some medical attention. I can only the wound sealed for so long." Khalix closed his eyes and feel backwards, Skerren quickly catching his unconscious form. **  
  
\-- Now  
  
**For the first time in his life, Jack woke up entirely alone.   
  
He felt it as soon as he was conscious. There was an odd empty feeling in his chest, like it was lighter than it should be. His whole body felt weak and exhausted. His memories were fuzzier than they had been.   
  
Khalix was somehow gone. And though it was something Jack had used to wish would happen, he didn't like it.   
  
Jack pushed himself up, looking around at his surroundings. He appeared to be in the same small metal cell as before. They seemed to have been expecting him, too, as the lock was manual and there weren't any nearby machines that he could sense.   
  
Walking to the small window in the cell's door, Jack peered out before yelling "HEY!" At anyone who might be listening. In return he received a slight echo and silence. There didn't seem to even be a guard posted.   
  
What did they want with him anyway? **  
  
\--  
  
** As soon as he regained consciousness, Khalix started to feel very odd. There was something off about the whole room. Everything looked too tall. He swung his legs over to the side of the table he was laying on a pushed himself off, only to trip and scrape his hands on the concrete floor when he didn't land how he should of.   
  
Wincing, Khalix moved to examine his new wounds, only to realize what the real problem was. These weren't Jack's hands.   
  
Someone had put him in a different host.   
  
There was no one trying to fight off his control. He couldn't feel Jack's consciousness hovering in the back of his mind. And, Khalix realized with horror as he saw that oil instead of blood was oozing out of his newly scraped hands, there was no one there to stop the Rüstov infection from spreading. He steadied himself against the table leg, breathing heavily. He felt physically sick.   
  
Khalix knew of his nature. This was how he worked. This was how he stayed alive. But Jack was the only host he had ever had. Anything else just felt wrong.   
  
Some time later, the man from before walked into the room, wearing a lab coat.   
  
"Why did you-" Khalix coughed. His new voice was high, and sounded far too young. They'd put him in a freaking kid. "Why would you do this to me?"  
  
The scientist crossed his arms, a very disgruntled look on his face. "I had thought you would both be glad of this. Jack Blank would be rid of you, and you would be able to inhabit a host that you would actually be able to control. But neither of you have been very appreciative." **  
  
**"So far you have kidnapped us, imprisoned us, and caused us quite a lot of pain. Did you think we'd be happy about that?"  
  
"I tried to explain myself after you were on the ship. If you had been cooperative-"  
  
Khalix stood, attempting to look authoritative. "Enough. Where is Jack?"   
  
"On the ship. He could still be useful. For now."  
  
"Take me to him."   
  
The scientist smiled slowly. "And why would I do that? You're not a prince anymore, Rüstov, and I'm not yours to command."  
  
Khalix stared at him. In this child's body there was no doubt he looked ridiculous, but he refused to back down. "You must want something from me. These are my conditions."  
  
This time the scientist truly did laugh, and the sound sent a chill down Khalix’s spine. "What we want from you isn't something we'll be bargaining for."


	3. Chapter 3

**\-- Six Months Ago**   
  
Khalix saved their lives for the second time.    
  
This time it was obvious that it hadn't simply been out of self preservation. He had beaten Jack's attacker, true, but them had put himself in danger to fend off Trea's opponent and help fight Skerren's.    
  
He now stood in front of them, chest heaving and blood dripping from a wound on his arm, his head bowed.    
  
"What are you playing at, Rüstov?" Demanded Allegra, her arm pointed like knives in a threatening gesture.    
  
Khalix looked up, and she could've sworn that he smirked.    
  
"I guess it turns out that I'd really rather you all stayed living."   
  
**\-- Now**   
  
Khalix stood at the defensive, metal tendrils rising beneath the skin of his arms to prepare for an attack. 

The scientist eyes found Khalix’s hardened fists, and he sighed. “Well, if that is how you are going to be…”

Khalix peered at him through slitted eyes. “What do you mean?”

The scientist hefted a case onto the counter, and began pulling out tools of all sorts: wrenches, scalpels, and other more sinister looking instruments. 

"You are here because I need to learn more about the mechanics and biology of the higher Rüstov. If you cooperate, this will likely be painless and your host will survive. If not, well... I'm sure we can find you another pliable host somewhere.

Is that understood?"

Khalix took a deep breath and considered his situation, concentrating on not talking a loud. He wasn't quite used to being able to speak. 

"Yes, I understand."

"And...?" The scientist raised a single eyebrow, waiting. 

"And?"

"Do you plan to cooperate?"

Khalix considered his situation once more, and gritted his teeth. Even with his reinforcement, he doubted he would be able to escape in this feeble host. “I suppose I have no choice.”

“Wonderful.” Faster than Khalix could anticipate, the scientist twirled a syringe between his fingers before plunging it into Khalix’s arm. “Let us begin.”

Khalix swore in Rüstov, the language sounding mangled as his tongue became thick in his mouth, the world around him blurring into a soup of colors and shapes. Distantly, he felt himself fall to the ground, a pain in his back, before he was hit by a buzz of energy that cut through his thoughts completely.

**\--**

They had been tracking Jack for five hours. He’d last been in the Imagine Nation eight hours ago.

Allegra couldn’t help but think about how anything could have happened in all that time.

“Allegra, which way now?” Roka asked her from where his hands were clenched around the ship’s controls, knuckles white. As their eyes met briefly, she could tell that he was just worried as she was. Distantly, she remembered the last time they had rescued Jack. At least this time, he was still on earth.

Allegra fiddled with the tracking unit that showed Jack’s location. After everything that had happened before, Roka had sewn tiny trackers into Jack’s shirt, or so he had told her. She wasn’t sure if Jack knew about that, but at this point she didn’t really care.

“It looks like they’re stopped. We’re almost there.”

Hearing that, Skerren looked up from where he had been polishing his blades.

“Time to punish whoever took Jack this time.”

**\--**

Alarms blared throughout the ship, shocking Jack into sudden alertness. There were distant shouts and the pounding of boots against metal hallways as the ship shuddered.

Jack pressed his hands against the floor of his cell, trying to the third time to tap into the ship itself. This time, it worked. Jack read the line of alerts scrolling across his vision. An unknown podship had been spotted, and the ship had been hit.

Searching through the ship’s systems, Jack found a camera facing the new ship, and smiled as he recognized it as Roka’s. His friends had found him.


	4. Chapter 4

**\-- Five Months Ago**   
  
Jack still talked in his sleep.    
  
A time ago, it would have been scared mumbling, prompted by Khalix's taunts and nightmares born from before they had won the Rüstov war.    
  
Now a days it was a bit more good natured.

“Checkmate.” He mumbled, a faint grin on his sleeping face.

Allegra simply shook her head as she tossed a take out container in the trash. Jack really needed to stop falling asleep on his work table.

**\-- Now**

When Allegra and Skerren finally arrived in the cell block, Jack stood waiting for them. He would have gone out to meet them sooner, but there really had been no way for him to open that blasted cell door.

There was blood on Skerren’s sword. These people had captured him, ripped what was essentially large piece of metal out of him, and thrown him in a cell, but… Jack didn’t really want to think about what kind of fight had been going on in the last half hour.

“Jack,” Allegra greeted him. She sounded slightly out of breath, but at the sight of him standing her eyes had brightened with happiness. “You’re alright?”

He found himself nodding. “Yeah, mostly.” He mentioned to the bars. “Except I’m stuck. Do you think one of you could…?”

Skerren hefted one of his blades, and easily cut off the cell’s lock. The door slowly swung open. “Thanks.”

**\--**

Once they were on Solomon’s ship, almost back to the Imagine Nation, Allegra and Skerren attempted to catch Jack up to what had been going on. “We followed you with the trackers Solomon had put in your clothes-”

“He  _ what?” _

“I guess you didn’t know about that… Well. We found the ship, we got in with only a little bit of fighting… There really weren’t that many people for a ship that big. Around fifteen soldier types, some five or so scientists in a lab type area. You weren’t the only prisoner though. There were a few others…”

As Solomon touched down next to his and Jack’s house, the engines rumbling as they were turned off, Skerren and Allegra shared a look.

Jack sighed. “Just tell me.”

“There was one prisoner. A Rüstov with an eight year old kid as its host.” Skerren answered coldly. “No idea how it could have gotten here. Aren’t they all supposed to be gone?”

Allegra grimaced. “We were thinking later you could hopefully go remove it. Poor kid…”

Jack jumped out his seat as if shocked.  _ Khalix.  _ “The Rüstov you found. Where is he?”

“Jack, you don’t have to do this right now.”

“ _ Where is he _ ?”

“We put him in a cell in the high security part of the prison. But, really Jack-”

Jack, stood, moving quickly to the door. He shook his head. “I have to go. You don’t understand.”

“What don’t we-”

“There wasn’t some random Rüstov on that ship. It’s Khalix.” And he was gone, the roar of his hovercar’s motor echoing across the quiet streets of Cognito.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, but that's because I haven't posted in MONTHS. Enjoy?

Unfortunately, swords really  _ hurt. _

Khalix curled in on himself on the cold floor of the cell they’d thrown him in. It had been ages since he’d been awake while Jack was injured. With Jack he could normally withdraw himself, but with this normal host he had to stay fully connected. He wasn’t dealing with the pain well.

There was cut on his side from where the swordsman had attacked him the moment he’d glimpsed his mark. The metal one… Allegra, (he really needed to stop acting as if he didn’t know the names of Jack’s friends) had stopped Skerren from outright killing him, arguing about the host, how Jack could get rid of the Rüstov, blah blah blah.

Khalix, still heavily drugged at the time, hadn’t been able to fight back. Plus, for some reason he had been struggling to speak anything but Rüstov since he’d woken up. Anything he  _ tried  _ to explain to anyone came out heavily accented. Those in the Imagine Nation really didn’t take well to that.

They’d talked about bringing Jack to him. Hopefully that would happen soon.

\--

Jack dashed into the super prison’s lobby. The guard at the desk started, her ponytail bobbing as she stood. She seemed to relax slightly when she realized there was nothing dangerous chasing after Jack.

“Is there something I can do for you?”

Jack glanced around. There were a few other people in the room. He really didn’t want to start a panic this time. “I’m here to see the high security prisoner brought in yesterday. Do you know which one I mean?”

The guard frowned. “Is everything alright, Mr. Blank?”

He nodded tersely. “I’m just… In a hurry.”

She tapped a few keys on her monitor, and the door behind her opened with a buzz. “That door is open for you, as will the others when you get to them. He… It’s… in cell H6. I assume you can get there on your own?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He threw over his shoulder as he walked through, then broke into a run as soon as he was out of sight. His friends might be after him to try to stop whatever he might want to do, and he needed to beat them there.

\--

Footsteps. Running footsteps.

Khalix reluctantly raised his head as the sound drew nearer only to see himself… No -  _ Jack _ drawing nearer at a sprint. When he spotted Khalix, his eyes widened slightly in shock. He must’ve been told what to expect, as he approached the doors quickly and opened them with a flick of his wrist.

Khalix grimaced, attempting to push himself up. Jack knelt, stopping him.

“You’re hurt.”

“It’s just a scratch” Khalix said in Rüstov then laughed painfully, coughing. He hated this tiny child’s voice.

Jack just shook his head, also seemingly mildly disturbed by the pitch of Khalix’s current voice. Barely noticing what language they were speaking, he switched to Rüstov as well. “Typical. You’ve never really been wounded before have you?”

“Well, there was that time with the reactor core…”

“Oh, you know what, just get out of that kid now. We can get him back to him parents… And things can get back to normal with us.”

Khalix blinked in surprise, and was ashamed at how helpless he sounded when he spoke, “Really? You mean…”

“Of course. I made a promise, didn’t I? And I’m not about to leave this poor kid in this state. It’s what they’d expect me to do.”

“Yes, but, well - you’re rid of me now. It wasn’t any fault of yours… You honored your oath. I’m pretty sure they’d expect you to kill me now. Especially that friend of yours, Skerren.”

Jack’s face hardened. “Skerren understands that I do what I need to do. He’s my friend, but his fight is not mine. Hell, they might be on their way to stop me right now… But frankly Khalix, I’d feel weird without you. Ready?”

Khalix smirked, coming back to himself a bit. “I’ve never actually done this before…”

Bonded since birth, they stared at each other, Jack’s brow furrowing. “I, well… I guess we’ll have to figure this out together then.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping it short so I can keep 'em coming. Things should start really happening now. (I promise) Also, yes, I found a continuity error and tried to explain it away.

**\-- Meanwhile, Outside the Imagine Nation**

A man in a heavy mechanic’s uniform entered The Scientist’s lab and stopped by the door, hand raising into a salute.

“Sir.”

“Go ahead, Jenkins.”

“We’ve got the engine and everything fixed down there, sir, but all the prisoners are gone. I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know how it happened! They just came out of nowhere. Sir.”

The Scientist rubbed at his eye, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly into a smile as he moved away from the window.

“That’s quite alright, Jenkins. In fact, everything is going _just_ according to plan.”

\--

Jack closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching out to the mechanical form that he knew was Khalix.

“So I know I can remove you. It’ll be forcible, and I don’t know if that’ll hurt, but that seems like our best bet right now. Do you think you can do the rest?”

“Yes. I should be able to. But Jack… This kid is pretty infected.”

Jack looked Khalix’s current form up and down. He didn’t see any gears or obvious metal, only the scar. That would just go away without Khalix there. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“There hasn’t been anything to stop the infection. His blood is oil I’m sure… Bones might be metal. Rüstov aren’t all quite the same. Ones like me, royalty, the infection works differently. It’s more aggressive. That’s why our hosts never get free.” Khalix seemed to shudder slightly, like he was actually disturbed by that as much as anyone else might be. Jack couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he actually was.

“It’s okay. I’m sure we’ll work it out. For now, let’s get this done.” Jack pushed farther this time, mentally connecting with Khalix.

‘Ready?’

‘ _To have my neural network ripped apart? Might as well be.’_ The alien replied grumpily.

Jack couldn’t help but wince a bit as he pushed Khalix out of the kid. The whole thing was disconcerting.

‘ _T_ _he removal was kind of painful, but this might hurt worse’_ Khalix warned before Jack was hit with a white wave of pain, like 100 dentist drills at once. He felt himself on the edge of passing out, his vision being reduced to blackness.

‘ _I_ _’m sorry Jack’_ Khalix apologized as Jack fell unconscious, dragging the Rüstov with him.

\--

Allegra and Skerren walked down the prison’s hallway at a bit less of a frantic pace than Jack had before.

“She said that the prisoner he went to see was in cell H6, and that it was right up a - Oh no.” Allegra abruptly cut off, rushing forward as she saw Jack’s prone form on the floor, unconscious.

Skerren frowned, noticing the Rüstov mark darkening reappearing around Jack’s eye. Oddly, until that moment he hadn’t noticed it going missing. He slowly unsheathed one of his swords. “Be careful.”

“What do you mean? Oh.” Allegra noticed it as well. “That’s strange…”

“I’ll check the kid. It looks as if he’s not infected anymore.”

\--

Jack felt blurry as he came to, bright dots spinning in his vision. His head pounded in the way it always did when he pushed his powers too far or hadn’t slept in two days. His heart was racing, and for some reason his thoughts felt very… cluttered.

_Thatwasrough. Isthatnormal? IguessIwouldn’tknow. IhopeJack’salright…_

_‘Khalix?’_ Jack thought in the way he’d become to refer to as “aloud” even if it was anything but.

The chatter cut off abruptly. ‘ _G_ _ood, you’re awake.'_

‘ _W_ _hat was all that?’_

_‘All what?’_

Jack managed to push his eyes all the way open, groaning slightly, to find Allegra and Skerren in the room with him. One looking concerned, one looking slightly suspicious.

He sighed. “I guess I have a little explaining to do.”


	7. Chapter 7

Jack woke with his head pounding for the third time in as many days. His body ached, and his face was hot and feverish. Attempting to roll over in his usual spot on the couch, Jack decided he really didn’t want to be awake.

‘ _ Jack _ .’

He groaned. “Mmph noo five more minutes.”

‘ _ Jack, something’s wrong.’ _

“Khalixxx... go back to sleep.” He said, his voice muffled by the pillow he’d now successfully smushed half of his back into.

‘ _ You need to get up.’ _

Seemingly of their own accord, Jack’s legs swung themselves onto the ground and he began to stand. As soon as he realized what was happening they went limp under him, and he toppled forward onto the ground.

Jack shook his head, pushing himself off from the ground. “Khalix,  _ why. _ ”

‘ _ You weren’t listening to me.’  _ If he’d had arms of his own, the Rüstov would have crossed them and been pouting.

“What’s- ow- wrong then?”

‘ _ You’re feeling sick, and I’m really worried I know why…’ _

“And?”

‘ _ You’re not gonna like it.’ _

\--

Jack hurriedly stumbled into his lab, flicking on the lights mentally as he entered.

“Scanner, on! Everybody else, be quiet.”

He pulled himself on top of the scanner, and felt the rhythmic whir as it started running. He desperately hoped Khalix was wrong about this one. But of all things, this was one that he should know.

There was a ding as the scan finished. Jack twirled the screen toward himself in had once been an all too familiar gesture.

**Scan complete.**

**Infection level: 35.6%**

**Rate of Increase: 0.01% per hour, slowing.**

“No no no no.” He pushed his hand against his face, scrunching up his eyes and causing his hair to stick up even more than it had been. “Khalix!”

‘ _ I have as much control over this is as you do! Less, actually. I’m not happy about it either.’ _

“It’s been holding steady at about 10 percent for a YEAR.”

‘ _ You’ve been checking?!’ _

“Not  _ recently _ .”

Jack shook off Khalix’s indignance as he stood up. He examined his arms as if he could see the nanites moving inside them. He flexed his fingers experimentally. Beyond the ache in his head that was fading, nothing seemed wrong. He’d tried pushing back with his powers, but it was like there was nothing to push against.

‘ _ I suppose… this must have something to do with what happened on the ship…’ _

Leaning up against his work table, Jack was suddenly contemplative. “What happened there anyway? From what I know all they did was throw me in cell. So it must’ve been all about you.”

After a too long silence, Khalix finally replied. ‘ _ I don’t really know what happened either. But it was strange. He had all these tools and syringes. He knocked me out before I knew what was happening. He could have done anything.’ _

Jack could feel that Khalix remembered more than he was saying. He decided not to push it.

For now.


End file.
